Bast Castle
Bast Castle, also referred to as Darth Vader's castle or Fortress Vader, was Darth Vader's private fortress on the acid rain-soaked planet of Vjun. It later became the headquarters of the Dark Side Elite briefly and eventually came into the possession of his long lost son, Kylo Ren. History The secret sanctuary of Darth Vader, Bast Castle was an immense black fortress located near a beach on Vjun. His personal home, Vader often retired to Bast when not on assignment for the Emperor. Very few sentients knew of its existence and it was here in solitude that Vader studied the Dark Side, frequently using his personal Meditation chamber located at the top of the castle. When not studying the dark side, Vader spent what time he had perfecting his light saber skills, using several variants of training droids to challenge himself. The castle also contained a droid workshop and private hangar where Vader would use his mechanical skills to privately work on his TIE Advanced x1 and to repair his sparring droids. Aside from Vader himself, the castle was occupied by a garrison of Stormtroopers who both stationed within the castle and the surrounding outposts. These troopers were assigned to protect Bast Castle while Vader was away on assignment for the Emperor. After Vader's defection from the Empire during the Coruscant campaign, the castle stood alone and forgotten for years. During the newly crowned Emperor Dantius Palpatine's resurgence, Palpatine interrogated and tortured inexperienced Ysanna Jedi in Bast Castle under the gaze of a massive statue of Vader that had been erected by Sedriss QL. When Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar attacked the castle to rescue the Ysanna, it was heavily damaged in the fighting, and Vader's statue was toppled. Post Galactic Civil War In 22 ABY, the Jedi historian Tionne Solusar discovered that Ben Kenobi's lightsaber had been recovered by Vader and stored at Bast Castle. Since an information broker had sold this information to them, she feared that others may have gotten to it first. Thinking it was just a simple trip and time for training, Tionne allowed Anakin Solo, Tahiri Veila, Uldir Lochett, and Ikrit to accompany her. They left on her ''Jemlaat''-class yacht Lore Seeker. Having arrived at Bast Castle, they discovered another vessel and feared another group had reached it first. Having survived the fortress's automated defense systems and booby traps, they discovered the lightsaber in a secret alcove. Unfortunately, a cloaked man named Orloc arrived. Orloc stole Kenobi's lightsaber and claimed to be a mage who possessed great powers. In response, the Jedi pursued Orloc and his henchmen on a chase through Bast Castle. They managed to defeat Orloc and escape Bast Castle, along with Kenobi's lightsaber and the holocron of the ancient Jedi Master Asli Krimsan. Later, in 34 ABY, Kyle Katarn and Jaden Korr visited Vjun and the castle in order to try and stop the Disciples of Ragnos from draining it of its Force energy. It was then that Rosh Penin revealed that he had turned to the dark side. Prior to the encounter with Penin, Korr came across the toppled statue of Vader and jokingly told himself that somebody really didn't like Vader. Korr eventually defeated Penin and killed the Kothos twins who accompanied Penin and empowered him with the Force.Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Ren's sanctuary At some point after the Dark Nest Crisis, the castle came into the possession of Darth Vader's long lost son, Kylo Ren. It would also serve as a base of sorts for the Knights of Ren. In c. 40 ABY, Ren was meditating in his sanctum when Director Orson Krennic arrived. Sending Ren's assistant Vaneé to retrieve him, Krennic and Ren discussed the superweapon. Krennic wanted more credit for the project but Ren refused to help him. When he asked if he still had command, Krennic was Force choked by the Dark Jedi as a warning. After the meeting, Vaneé told Krennic to keep all that he saw of the castle to himself. The statue of Darth Vader After the death of Vader and return of Skywalker, Bast Castle became the stronghold of the Emperor's Dark Jedi. As a homage to the previous owner and Dark Lord of the Sith, the new Military Executor, Sedriss QL, erected a statue of the Dark Lord in the middle of Bast Castle. Carved from black stone, it stood about 6 meters tall. Dantius Palpatine ordered Sedriss to destroy the image of the traitor, but in an act of defiance, Sedriss overlooked the order because of his admiration for Vader's abilities. Sedriss was eventually killed by Ood Bnar and the ownership of the castle fell to the new Executor, Xecr Nist. Palpatine ordered once again that the statue be removed, and wishing to avoid the fate of his predecessor, Nist promised that he would. However, before the deed could be done, a task force of Jedi including Luke Skywalker, Rayf Ysanna, Kam Solusar, and Empatojayos Brand attacked the stronghold. A vicious fight ensued between the four Jedi and the Dark Side Elite. In an ironic twist, Skywalker defeated Nist and used the Force to push the enormous statue upon the remaining Dark Side Elite, killing them and winning the day for the Jedi. The statue lay broken in Bast Castle for years and the rubble was still present when Anakin Solo and Tahiri visited the castle during their training at the Jedi Praxeum. Kyle Katarn and his student Jaden Korr also witnessed the remnants of the massive statue when they visited the planet in an attempt to stop the Disciples of Ragnos from siphoning the Force energy. Not long after, however, the statue was restored by Vader's long lost son, Kylo Ren, after taking possession of the castle. Appearances Notes and references Category:Castles Category:Galactic Empire locations